


Hit the right tone

by PrinceofBadassery



Series: Hit the right tone [1]
Category: Captain America (Comics), Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Bucky and Steve being bros and a little gay for each other, Canon Disabled Character, F/M, Gen, Natasha is their neighbor, Skinny!Steve, Steve and Bucky are flat mates, amputee!Bucky, losts of sass, no actual date happening
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-05
Updated: 2014-11-05
Packaged: 2018-02-24 05:32:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2569946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrinceofBadassery/pseuds/PrinceofBadassery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky unexpectedly finds himself with a date one saturday afternoon and tries not to panic when getting ready. Steve is a little shit, but helps out where he can.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hit the right tone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MamaMcCallMe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MamaMcCallMe/gifts).



> Part of my attempt to write 50.000 words worth of fanfiction for NaNoWriMo.

Bucky took two steps at once up the stairs, letters, ads and the neighbor’s newspaper firmly pressed against his chest with his hand, then basically sprinted down the hallway to Steve’s and his apartment. He was only wearing boxer shorts and a dirty shirt that he had been wearing since last night and actually wore to bed and he really didn’t want any of the neighbors to see him like this.

“Hey there.” The door across from their apartment was open and a woman was leaning against the door frame. He had almost reached his door and immediately stopped in his tracks when he noticed her and cursed under his breath. Not part of the plan.

Bucky had seen her around a few times, as much as you usually see neighbors around, passed her on the stairs a couple of times, held open the door for her once. She was small, probably a head shorter than himself. Her long red hair piled in a messy bun on top of her head with loose strands escaping it here and there. She wore a white crop top with some saying on it Bucky couldn’t decipher without staring too long, and red and white shorts. She had one hand hanging loosely at her side and had hooked the thumb of the other into the waistband of her shorts.

“Uh hey.” He looked around, making sure she really did mean him, but there was nobody in the hallway. The door to their apartment was only half closed and Steve was waiting for him to get back with the mail, but the little punk could wait a few more minutes if the neighbor lady wanted to talk.

She smiled at him and he relaxed his shoulders and shifted the pile of mail a little, making sure that none of the letters escaped his grasp.

“You’re pretty cute.” She said. “You free this afternoon?”

“Thanks. Yeah, I guess.” It was Saturday. Bucky hadn’t planned anything beyond lying around the apartment watching shows on Netflix.

“You want to go get some coffee? I know a place.” She pushed herself off the doorframe and ran a hand through her hair, checking the integrity of her bun, then left her arm draped over her head when she leaned back on the frame. The way she was standing Bucky fully expected her to say “I’m not a model” at any moment.

Bucky shrugged.

“Sure, sounds good.”

She smiled again, all teeth this time.

“What’s your name, neighbor?”

“Bucky.”

She made a face and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Give me something else. I’m not calling a grown ass man who I might start a sexual relationship with in the future ‘Bucky’.”

Bucky could hear the imaginary quotation marks around his name.

“James?” He suggested with a shrug and she nodded, pushing herself of the doorframe again.

“Better, I’m Natasha. I’ll pick you up at four.” She turned around and glanced over her shoulder back at him. “James.” With that she disappeared into her apartment.

He stared at her closed door for a moment, then shrugged and shouldered the door to his own apartment open and kicked it close again once inside. He barely managed to get to the kitchen table before the mail escaped his grasp and fell all over wooden surface.

“You have a date!” Steve had appeared in the doorway to the kitchen and was staring at Bucky, mouth open and eyes wide.

“You have a date!” He repeated when Bucky didn’t immediately answer.

“Uh, yeah, I guess.” Bucky shrugged and spread out the letters on the table. Most of them were bills but one stood out with its light blue envelope and distinct watermark.

“Steve…” Bucky picked it up and turned it around, but he already knew where that one had come from

“Oh no. “ Steve had crossed the small distance between them and now stood in front of Bucky, small chest puffed out, trying to make himself taller than he was and still barely reaching Bucky’s chin with the top of his head. “Don’t you dare change the subject. You have a date.”

“Steve!”

“What?!” Steve finally looked at the letter in Bucky’s hand and he immediately deflated. “Is that?”

“I guess it is.” Bucky handed the letter to Steve, who tore it open within seconds, pulling out the few sheets of paper. His eyes scanned the pages and Bucky stood close by ready to catch him if he should faint, but he was just as excited as Steve for the letter’s content.

 

 

Steve was about ready to vibrate out of his skin from excitement, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He read the words again, just to be sure before practically jumping on Bucky.

“I got in! They accepted me!” He waved the letter in Bucky’s face, who only laughed and laid his hand on Steve’s shoulder, keeping him grounded.

“Told you, they’d be stupid not to take you.”

Steve started to hobble up and down under Bucky’s hand, clutching the letter like a life-line. “I got in.” He said again.

“Yeah.” Steve barely registered that Bucky had pulled out a chair from the table with his foot and had maneuvered him around, the gentle pressure on his shoulder made him flop down. “You’re gonna break something if you keep that up.” Bucky said, but Steve wouldn’t be still even sitting down and wriggled around in the chair, he had scanned the rest of the pages and slowly realization dawned on him that he would be starting art school in the fall. He heard himself wheeze and only then noticed the tightness in his chest. He felt Bucky’s hand tense on his shoulders.

Steve looked up to see Bucky frowning at him. He raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you dare say anything.”

“Wasn’t about to.” Bucky’s face told another story and Steve narrowed his eyes at him.

“Don’t you have a date to get ready for?” He poked Bucky in the chest with a single finger and Bucky’s face went slack as the memory hit him. He stared at Steve wide-eyed for a second before cursing.

“Fuck, that is a thing that happened, right? That really happened. I wasn’t just imagining the hot red-head from across the hall. I thought I might have been hallucinating.” He ran his hand through his hair and looked around as if somehow the tiny kitchen held the answer to all his problems.

“Fuck.” He grabbed Steve’s shoulder again and was right in his face. “What do I do?” Their noses were practically touching, Bucky staring imploringly into Steve’s eyes. Who had to laugh so hard he started wheezing again.

“Fuckfuckfuck, calm down!” Bucky really was panicking now.

“I’m fine, Buck, go take a shower for starters.” Steve managed to get out between laughing fits. Bucky was hovering around him like a mother hen.

“Yeah, you sure?”

“Yes!” Steve pushed Bucky away in direction of the bathroom. “You stink, you fucking pig, do something about it.”

Bucky hesitantly walked to the door, throwing glances over his shoulder to Steve, who glared daggers at him until he was out of the door. Steve focused on the letter again, this time determined to actually read it.

Three seconds later he was interrupted by Bucky poking his head back into the kitchen.

“Oh and watch your blood pressure, Stevie.” He said before ducking back out again before Steve could even consider throwing something at him.

“You watch your blood pressure!” Steve shouted after him.

“Punk!” Bucky yelled from his room.

“Jerk!” Steve retorted, then went back to re-reading the letter, still not quite believing what just happened.

 

 

“So which one?” Bucky held up two shirts, long sleeved button-ups, one in dark blue the other in red plaid. He had already changed into a clean white t-shirt, his hair was towel dry and the jeans were passable with only a few holes at the knees.

“The blue one. Plaid is so out.” Steve rolled his eyes. He had settled at his drawing desk again, determined to make good use of the bout of motivation that had seized him after the letter from the school.

“You wear plaid.” Bucky pointed out.

“I’m a hipster. You’re not.”

“What?” Bucky made a face.

Steve gave him a pointed look and Bucky threw his hand up. “Fine. The blue one, Mr. Fashion police officer, Sir.”

Steve smirked to himself as Bucky stormed off, grumbling something about having to iron that one.

 

 

“Steeeheeevie.” Bucky whined as he shuffled into Steve’s room again, shoulders sagging and looking utterly miserable. He had ironed the shirt and pinned up the left sleeve and rolled up the right one to just above his elbow. He had his hair tied into a pony tail and it was obvious that that was the cause of his distress.

“It looks wrong.”

“That’s because it’s too high up.”

Bucky huffed and pulled out the hair tie.

“Want me to do it?” Steve asked, holding out his hand for the tie.

“Nah, you do it too neatly.”

Bucky leaned back and started gathering his hair in his hand again, hair tie already open around his fingers. He held the pony tail with his hand at the nape of his neck and turned around so Steve could see. “Like that?”

Steve glanced up from his drawing and nodded. “Much better.”

Bucky walked over to the doorway and leaned his head back against it, holding his hair in place. He quickly finished tying the pony tail and looked up to see Steve watching him.

“What?”

“Come here.” He motioned with his hand and Bucky complied, leaning down to Steve’s eye level. Steve plucked the strand of hair that was still half way stuck on the side of Bucky’s head loose.

“There.”

“You made it messier.” Bucky tried to smooth the strand of hair back, but it refused to stay, instead joining the much shorter strands of his bangs to frame his face. He glanced at his reflection in Steve’s window and grumbled.

“Now it’s all lopsided.” He stated unhappily and reached for the hair tie again, but Steve caught his wrist.

“No, it’s good. It fits you.”

Bucky made a face again. “You mean I’m already lopsided in the arm department, gotta have the matching hair?” He pulled at the offending strand again.

“It gives you character.” Steve said flashing the other man a grin, Bucky made a disgruntled noise, but after another thirty seconds of glaring at the streak of hair in his hand he seemed to have made peace with it.

“You think I look okay like this?” Bucky took a step back and smoothed down his shirts, looking at Steve expectantly.

Steve turned in his seat so that he was half leaning on his desk leisurely draping one arm across the back of his chair. He gave Bucky a slow once over deliberately letting his eyes wander slowly then said in his best Brooklyn accent. “I’d date ya.”

Bucky keeled over in a laughing fit. He laughed so hard he had to sit down on the floor holding his stomach and it took him several minutes of gasping for air till he had caught himself again. Steve sat there smirking the entire time.

“I’m fretting too much about this, aren’t I?” Bucky said finally after his breathing had evened out.

“Yeah.”

“You’re a little shit though, just for the record.”

Steve shrugged. “Already got the right height for it, might as well act the part.”

Bucky flopped backwards and stretched out on the floor.

“You just ironed that.” Steve said with a chuckle.

“I really don’t care.” Bucky draped his arm over his eyes. “I’ll just stay here till she gets here, if that is alright.”

Steve hummed in agreement and went back to his drawing, putting the finishing touches on it.

Natasha knocked on the door fifteen minutes later and Steve pushed Bucky out of the apartment with only a slightly rumpled shirt.

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my native language, if you spot mistakes, please tell me.


End file.
